About

Andrej Salner

Economist, evaluator, entrepreneur, SGI co-founder

Andrej Salner is an economist and one of the most experienced Slovak evaluators, with more than 25 years of practice. He is a co-founder and, from 2002 to 2006, was executive director of the SGI Institute (Slovak Governance Institute) – the Institute for a Well-Governed Society, one of the leading Slovak organisations focused on public policy research and evaluation.

Throughout his career he has worked with major international institutions including the World Bank, UNDP, J-PAL (Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab), Roma Education Fund and Open Society Foundations. He specialises in evaluations in the fields of social inclusion, education, public administration and international development.

Andrej is also an experienced entrepreneur – co-founder of the hotel-booking portal Bratislava Hotels.com, builder of the leading marketing agency Basta digital (formerly Pizza SEO), founder of GoGo.wine, and a founding board member of the CEE Digital Alliance. Combining an entrepreneur's mindset with deep expertise in evaluation and impact measurement makes him an ideal partner for impact investors, corporate foundations and funders looking to maximise the impact of their work with civil-society organisations.

In evaluation, he has extensive experience developing Theories of Change for NGOs, festivals and programmes. As Partnership Coordinator for the City of Bratislava's CSR/ESG initiatives, he works closely with corporate donors and leading foundations and builds cross-sector partnerships (including the 10,000 Trees Initiative) – giving him first-hand understanding of what funders and impact investors need.

Education

• Economics – University of Edinburgh, Scotland
• Economics and Political Science – Brandeis University, USA

Key evaluation experience

• Procuring, contracting and supervising the external evaluation of the three-country Superar programme (delivered by DEVEA) – a key role in selecting, contracting and coordinating the external evaluators; stakeholders regard the result as highly valuable
• Led the SGI evaluation team for the international programme A Good Start – an evaluation of a pilot early education programme for Roma children in four countries (Hungary, Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia) for the Roma Education Fund and the International Step by Step Association
• Evaluation of the Messaging Matters project – research into effective communication of social inclusion policies for Open Society Foundations
• Consultancy and evaluations for the World Bank in the fields of social inclusion and the knowledge economy
• Collaboration with J-PAL on research into effective interventions in education
• Assessment of state administration transparency in the Open State Administration project
• A series of national reports on education policy in Slovakia

Areas of expertise

• Evaluation theory and methodology
• Social inclusion and education
• Knowledge economy
• Public administration and transparency
• Impact evaluation
• Mixed evaluation methods
• Designing evaluation frameworks and terms of reference
• Bridging business and social impact (impact investing)

Juries & memberships

• Long-standing jury member of the Via Bona Slovakia awards – in the Social Innovation category and, most recently, Socially Responsible Campaign of the Year
• Jury member of the PROKOP PR awards (2026), nominated on behalf of the ADMA association

Selected publications

A selection of publications in evaluation, research and digital marketing:

• Guideline for CSOs on Preparing Monitoring Country Reports (2nd Cycle): Implementation of National Roma Strategic Frameworks – CEU Democracy Institute, 2024
• Guideline for CSOs on Preparing Monitoring Country Reports: Quality of the New National Roma Strategic Framework – CEU Democracy Institute, 2022
• Roma Inclusion Study for the Financial Mechanism Office (EEA & Norway Grants) – Pitija, 2015
• External evaluation of the pilot project "Let's Learn to Learn" (ETP Slovakia) – SGI, 2015
• External Evaluation of the Strategy of the Slovak Republic for the Integration of Roma until 2020 – SGI and Škola dokorán, 2015
• Full-Day Education System for Pupils from Socially Disadvantaged Backgrounds – final evaluation of a national project – Methodology and Pedagogy Centre, 2015
• Evaluation of Slovak Aid development projects in Moldova (for UNDP) – 2014
• Lessons from Slovakia's Comprehensive Approach – integrated territorial programmes for marginalised Roma communities – SGI, 2013
• Implementation of Activation Works in Slovakia: Evaluation and Recommendations for Policy Change – SGI, 2013
• Road Map on the Over-representation of Roma Children in Special Education – Analysis of Realistic Steps – SGI, 2013
• Good Practice Guide to Data Collection (EU Roma Pilot "A Good Start") – Roma Education Fund
• The Development of eServices in an Enlarged EU: eGovernment and eHealth in Slovakia – European Commission (JRC IPTS)
• Slovakia Country Assessment and Strategic Directions of the Roma Education Fund – Roma Education Fund
• Evaluation and Sustainability Assessment of the Your Spiš Project – UNDP, 2005
• Roma Children in the Slovak Education System – SGI (editor and co-author)
• How to Overcome the 5 Biggest Obstacles to B2B Online Marketing (in Slovak) – Basta digital, 2015
• Link Building for 2016: 5 SEO Tactics That Still Work (in Slovak) – Basta digital, 2016
• Trump's team tested 100,000 ad variations while rivals underestimated his digital campaign (in Slovak) – Denník N, 2016

A fuller list of publications is available on LinkedIn or on request.

Martina Kubánová

Researcher, evaluator, SGI co-founder

Martina Kubánová is an economist, researcher and evaluator with more than 20 years of experience. She was a partner and researcher at the SGI Institute (2001–2018) and has long focused on monitoring and evaluation, impact measurement and research in education policy, education funding and inclusion.

She has worked with Andrej Salner on several key impact-measurement projects, including one of the first counterfactual impact evaluations in Europe. Her particular strength is working with data – designing and managing data platforms and surveys, qualitative and quantitative research, and cost-effectiveness analysis.

Education

• MSc in Economics – University of Economics in Bratislava, Faculty of National Economy
• Postgraduate studies in applied economics – Academia Istropolitana Nova
• World Bank Institute – courses on education statistics and indicators and on education reform

Key impact-measurement experience

• Senior researcher for the monitoring and evaluation of the Investing in Early Childhood project – one of the first counterfactual impact evaluations in Europe (EU Progress, Office of the Plenipotentiary of the Slovak Government for Roma Communities)
• Database expert for the A Good Start I and II projects (Roma Education Fund) – designing and managing the online data platform and online surveys for the counterfactual impact evaluation
• Monitoring and evaluation for Superar International (since 2022)
• Evaluator on the PRIM II National Project for the Office of the Plenipotentiary of the Slovak Government for Roma Communities
• Short-term M&E consultant for the World Bank – building the Roma Education Fund's capacity for complex early-childhood interventions (Romania) and a project on equality of opportunity for Roma children
• Cost-effectiveness analysis comparing mainstream and special education (Roma Education Fund)

Areas of expertise

• Monitoring and evaluation, impact measurement
• Data platforms, surveys and data management
• Education policy and education funding
• Education of marginalised Roma communities
• Cost-effectiveness analysis and public policy
• Qualitative and quantitative research